


Loved and Lost

by ColonelSugar



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Drama & Romance, F/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:40:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23166370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColonelSugar/pseuds/ColonelSugar
Summary: Geralt of Rivia has lived a long time and when he was young there was this Girl who captured his interest moreso than anyone else.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Reader
Kudos: 30





	1. It Begins

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in a very long time, so here I go! This will be a chaptered work, but it'll be more focused on the Reader/Geralt relationship through the years.

**Don't stray too far from the forge**

**Be home before nightfall**

**Don't poke your head through the halls of the Witchers**

**Be wary of them, and try not to speak with any. We should be leaving in a few months. Keep your head down and your mouth shut.**

  
  


These were all things your father has told you over the few months you've been at Kaer Morhen, and they're things you've listened to… mostly. Currently, you've found yourself at the top of the walls, looking out into the valley below. The school of the Wolves was gorgeous. At least to you. You wanted nothing more than to run through the forest, foraging mushrooms and peeking in on the lives of animals. 

  
  


_ Soon _ , you thought as you turned around and walked to the other side of the ramparts, surveying the scene below. He was there, working with five other boys of the same age, going through forms and sword play against older men. He was, by far, the handsomest one out of the small class in your opinion. You placed him around your age, maybe a few years older. From what you gathered in the kitchens, he had displayed incredible strength through the Trial of the Grasses, whatever that was. Despite his young age, he had silver streaks beginning at each temple, giving him an air of maturity no other boy you'd ever met had been able to convey. You ducked down behind the stone wall as he turned in your direction, probably feeling your eyes on his back. You peeked over the top of the sun-warm stone, watching as he placed his practice sword on the rack. He picked up a wet rag out of a bucket and wiped his face of sweat before throwing it towards one of the other boys. Laughter filled the courtyard at whatever his friend had said, and you figured it was in jest towards your favorite. You watched him bend down and pick his shirt off the bench next to the sword rack. A small sigh escaped your lips as he put the shirt back on, loosely tying it close. Realizing it was almost lunch time, you slipped away. It was past the time your father would get suspicious. 

  
  


Walking into your house, you looked around for your father. The forge was quiet, which was never a good sign when you had been roaming around the keep. You entered the kitchen, checking the pot over the small fire. You picked up a wooden spoon from next to the fire, stirring the stew you had put on before leaving. You heard the door close behind you and your dad let out a sigh. 

"Welcome home, father," you say cheerily, pouring him a mug of ale from a barrel in the cabinet and handing it to him. He looked down at you with a smile, cupping your cheek in his hand and kissing your forehead. 

  
  


"How was your jaunt to the wall?" He said knowingly, cocking an eyebrow.

"I didn't-I don't." You cleared your throat, "I don't know what you're talking about." He laughed, taking a sip of his ale.

"Y/N, I know everything you get up to. Now, heed my words before you get in trouble with the Witchers. Or worse yet, a monster in the forest. Melitele knows even this close to Kaer Morhen there's things that lurk the dark woods." You nodded, flushing a little bit and turning back to the fireplace. You grabbed two bowls and ladling soup into each dish, placing them on the kitchen table and pulling up a chair. Your father sat in the one across from you.

"How was the forge?" Your father shrugged his large shoulders, tasting the food.

"Silver is a tricky metal to work onto a sword. It's very soft and malleable, not made for usual hammering techniques. I'm making it work, of course. I always will." Knowing your father to be one of the best smiths on the Continent, you smiled at him.

"Of course you do, father. What about the armor?" That earned you a shrug from him.

"As armor always is. That's standard. Same with their steel swords." You nodded, falling silent.

  
  


Moonlight peeked through the curtains of your small house set into the side of one of the walls of the keep. Your father had been asleep for hours, his snoring coming in comforting waves into your small bedroom. You slipped off the mattress, already fully clothed, and slipped your feet into your forest boots. Wiggling your toes, you quietly slipped out grabbing your cloak and a forage basket on the way out. The moon was bright and full tonight, giving you plenty of light to gather by. Guards, as always, patrolled the ramparts looking for a force trying to get in, not slip out. You opened a small gate and slipped quietly as a mouse into the woods.

  
  


No one was around, the forest was silent except for the quiet sounds of animals all around you. The trees were brimming with life, from birds asleep in their nests, to rabbits darting away from your quiet footsteps through the underbrush. Your mother taught you how to hunt and track, how to slip through leaves and twigs like a ghost, which herbs were useful and which killed. Bending down to examine the underside of a mushroom that looked edible, your breath caught as you heard a soft crunch from behind you.

  
  


Pretending not to have heard, you unsheathed your small knife, inserting it into the loam and bringing the mushroom in one piece up out of the ground.

"You can come out," you say softly, figuring if it were to be a monster, it would've attacked you already. You stood, brushing off the damp knees of your trousers as you turned to face the intruder, thinking them to be a guard here to take you home. "Hello." The tall boy from the practice yard stood in front of you, far taller than you originally thought. He gave you a disarming smile.

  
  


"And what is a maiden like you doing in a forest this late at night?" Lifting the basket, you gestured to the contents within. Just some herbs, the mushroom you had just lifted, and a small rabbit that had been caught in one of your snares. 

"Just foraging, mostly." A dark brown eyebrow lifted.

"In the middle of the night?" You offered a shrug with a smile. 

"Is there a better time? What are you doing in the woods this late, sir Witcher." He laughed, shaking his head.

"I'm not worthy of that title… yet."

"You sound so confident."

"I'm told I show promise," he replied honestly, openly. He stared down at you with eyes of liquid gold, and you've never seen someone so incredibly handsome in all your sixteen years on the earth. 

  
  


Flushing, you turn away from him and begin to walk again, somehow knowing he would accompany you. He did. 

"You still haven't told me why you're here," you reminded him, keeping your eyes out.

"It… clears my head," he answered eventually, picking up a closed flower from the forest floor. 

"Too many things inside the castle are distracting. I prefer the open air."

"It's less complicated." All you got in return was a 'hmm' from deep within his chest. 

  
  


The night passed quickly with the Witcher apprentice beside you. You felt emboldened by his presence, as well as incredibly nervous. Rumors about what the Witchers could do had circled your village prior to moving up here for the brief stay by your father, and you wondered just how much of it was true. You were surrounded by them, and they remained as elusive as ever. 

"Can I ask you a question?" you whispered as you turned around, figuring it was high past time to be getting back to your bed.

"Ask away." Worrying your lip, you tried to think about everything that had been on your mind the past months of your stay in the keep. Trying not to offend and satiate your curiosity was going to be difficult. "What would you like to know?" 

"Is being a Witcher hard?"  _ Fucking nervous idiot, what kind of question is that? _ Internally cursing your nervousness, you bit the inside of your cheek to try to focus on the answer instead.

"Of course. We hunt monsters for a living on Our Path." You nodded, noting how close the keep's walls were. You didn't have much time.

"Do Witchers have feelings?" You heard a grunt from behind you.

"We're just mutants." The answer was deadpan, a little offended. 

"Silly question, I know. Uhm… Do you have cat eyes?" He stopped walking and it took you a second to realize you'd left the boy behind. 

  
  


Turning, you felt like climbing out of your skin as you looked up at him suddenly towering over you. He was… fast, far faster than you'd thought possible. He caught your eyes with his, grabbing a hold of your shoulders gently so he could spin the two of you around so that he was facing the moonlight. Looking up, you felt your heartbeat quicken as you realized you could see a slight reflection in his pupils. Pupils that took up almost all of his iris, so that only a small sliver of gold remained. The corners of his mouth turned upwards as one of his hands slid down your arm to grasp your hand in his. He raised it to his lips, kissing your knuckles softly.

"We are back at our destination and I haven't yet told you my name. Geralt Roger Eric du Haute-Bellegarde," he introduced himself. 

"Y/N," you managed to squeak, caught in the unexpected moment. "I'll see you in three nights." Slipping your hand away from his, you turned and snuck back into the keep leaving him there in the moonlight with his dangerous glowing eyes.


	2. Three Days Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three days seems to drag out forever

All you could hear was your thundering heartbeat as you ran from the situation. Why did I say that? He isn't going to join me again in three days. Stupid, stupid, stupid! you cursed internally, calming your breathing as you finally reached your front door. Almost holding your breath, you pushed open your front door, listening for your father's snoring. Everything was quiet and a cold pressure settled over your body. Time stretched out into hour-long seconds before the snores began again. You let out the breath you didn't realize you were holding, slipping inside the dark room. You moved silently, slipping into your room, toeing off your boots, and sliding into bed. You pushed your basket of goods underneath your bed before lying back and staring up at the ceiling. Quietly, you rolled over and pressed your face into the pillow, letting out a soft scream of both horror and an emotion you couldn't name. Hopefully, in three days, a tall protector would escort you through the woods in the moonlight. You pressed your face into the fabric, heart feeling like it would beat straight out of your chest. 

The three days passed in both a blur and a crawl. You were on your best behavior for the three days, listening to all of your father's warnings. Nothing of note happened, and you nervously counted the days until you went foraging once more. The night finally came, and you waited late enough into the night that the moon was almost at its zenith, and you picked up your basket, wrapping your body in a cloak. You put your basket in the crook of your arm, beginning to braid your hair behind you. You pushed the gate open quietly with your hip, slipping out of the keep and into freedom once more. It wasn't long until you felt your head tilt back as something grabbed onto your braid and tugged it. You turned around, your face flushing as you were once again face to chest with Geralt. You looked up at him, finding a smile on his face. His face in the moonlight was nothing short of beautiful, eyes shining slightly in the moonlight. You don't know how you didn't notice that before. The silver strands at his temples also reflected the moonlight, and the amount of silver seemed more plentiful, somehow.

"Good evening." You rolled your eyes at him.

"Hello, Geralt." 

"It took me a minute to discern what you meant by 'I'll see you in three days', I'm glad to find you here once more." You nodded, a flush spreading across your cheeks.

"I'm sorry." You heard a quiet laugh from next to you. 

"It's alright. We're here now. Do you always go ranging in the forest in the middle of the night every three days?" You bent to pick some herbs, setting your basket beside you. Feeling Geralt do the same, you looked over to him.

"Generally, yes. I'll do it two weeks in a row and wait two more, if I push it it's more likely for my father to catch me." He nodded. "I set snares the night before the full moon, forage fully each full moon and then three days later. And another three days later, and another, and then I wait roughly two weeks." You shrugged. "It's what I've done for years now."

"And you've never been caught?" Straightening, you shook your head.

"Nope."

"Your father doesn't wonder where the extra food comes from?" 

"He never mentioned it if he did. I do all the cooking." He deposited his small handful of herbs into your basket, following you. You could feel the heat from his body beside you, a companionable silence settling between you.

The night passed in near silence, few words between the two of you. It was definitely nice, and his companionship was supremely comforting. Despite your father's words circling around your head, you didn't think Geralt could be nearly that bad. You found yourself daydreaming as you walked with him, more focused on him next to you then finding food in the forest. 

"How long have you lived at Kaer Morhen?" you asked, curious.

"My entire life," he replied gruffly, "My mother left me as a babe."

"I'm so sorry." You felt him shrug.

"I've never known different. Why did you move here?"

"My father was offered a job making new silver swords for the Witcher students and he's one of the only blacksmiths left who has the skill to." Your chest swelled with pride. "And so, here we are. He says we're not staying long, and I believe him, but I'd prefer a life on the road instead of stuck in a no name village." Dark brown eyebrows lifted in shock at that last, surprise falling over the other boy's face.

"That's… interesting." The two of you found yourself in the last row of trees before the keep and you turned to him. "I have similar feelings of wanderlust." You 'hmm'ed, mulling that over internally. 

"I would hope so, seeing as you're going to be a full-time Witcher some day."

"If I don't die first." 

It was the truth, one you possibly had never considered. He heard your quiet hitch of breath easily, his heart warming at the thought of you caring about him in some way other than a protector in the woods. Glancing up, he realized how early it was in the morning and the thought of you getting in trouble with your father unsettled him. Geralt placed a gentle hand on your back, pushing you forward lightly. "It's too late for a young lass to be out in the middle of the night," he teased, his sharp ears picking up on your quiet grumble. 

"I know… I got caught up in… the freedom of the forest." He felt like you were going to finish that sentence with something else, but didn't push it. 

"Go, lass," he whispered, and watched as you slipped from shadow to shadow like mist wondering just how dangerous you would be with a dagger in your hand instead of your forage basket. Golden eyes tracked you, his head tilting like a shadow cat. Something alluring drew him to you, and he didn't know if it was your new-ness or your simple naitivity or something else. Magic was old, and so was destiny, and maybe that's what you were doing to him.. He rolled his shoulders, looking up at the wall and slipping into the keep as easily as you did.

The door shut with a soft click and Geralt's two friends, Gweld and Eskel, immediately rolled over in their cots, pinning him to the entrance with their eyes. He gave them an attempt of a disarming smile, shrugging.

"Where have you been all night?" Gweld asked, giving Geralt a suspicious look. 

"I've been taking the usual walk in the forest." He heard Eskel laugh low, watching Geralt walk over to his bed. 

"Three days after your usual full moon jaunt?"

"Yes, of course. Why not." 

"You know why," Gweld interjected. "Who is it?" Geralt stopped next to his bed, toeing off his boots.

"No one." There was another laugh, this time from both.

"We've known you for almost your whole life. Out of everyone on the Continent, we're the two people you cannot actually lie to," Eskel deadpanned, fully sitting up. "So, stop." Geralt stripped to his small clothes, getting into bed.

"There's… this girl," he muttered. 

"And…?" Gweld prodded, slipping out of bed and placing his chin on the edge of Geralt's mattress.

"That's it."

"No, that's not! Stop beating around the bush."

"Can you shut up?!" one of the other students in the room grumpily retorted, rolling over. Gweld stuck his tongue out at the boy, rolling his eyes before taking himself back to bed.

"Fine. Keep your secrets."

"Shh!" Geralt rolled over, thinking about the next forest adventure with Y/N in three days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These beginning chapters are so short, lol. As always, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!


End file.
